Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and coach Urban Meyer embrace before a game against Florida State on Nov. 28, 2009. / Douglas Jones, US Presswire

by Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports

Tim Tebow is now an Ohio State fan, but only begrudgingly, he said in a Q&A with The Plain Dealer's Doug Lesmerises.

"And I guess as hard as it is for me to say, I am a pretty big fan now of The Ohio State University," Tebow said.

Tebow's connection to the Buckeyes is through Urban Meyer, his former coach at Florida. The two continue to speak regularly, said Tebow, including before most of Meyer's games.

The Gators' first national title under Meyer, in 2007, came at Ohio State's expense. Behind the run-pass combination of Tebow and Chris Leak, Florida capped a 13-1 season with a 41-14 win over OSU in the BCS championship game.

"Ohio State is a great job and Coach Meyer is going to do such great things there at Ohio State," he said. "They're having a great season and he still doesn't even have all his players there."

Yes, Ohio State is having a great season. The Buckeyes have hit the ground running, surprising those who thought that it would take Meyer at least one full season to implement his system.

Part of the reason for Ohio State's immediate success has been the play of quarterback Braxton Miller, who has been a wonderful fit in Meyer's offense.

"I think he obviously has the incredible tools," Tebow said of Miller. "I think it's just constantly being a student of the game and pushing yourself mentally and continuing to push the envelope with what Coach Meyer always calls competitive excellence."

Tebow also had a few suggestions for Miller, whom he called "a great kid."

"I would just encourage him to not get complacent and not take things for granted, because in several of these wins, if something happens differently, they might lose one of them. So it's not taking that for granted. It's every week constantly grinding. And I feel like one of the weeks that I was a little bit complacent in college was the Old Miss game (in 2008) and we lost and that was something I feel like he can control and can consistently get better. And yeah, I think a lot of the timing in the passing game and the rhythm and stuff like that, just continue to work on, but he's got great skill and great talent and as long as he just keeps pushing it and working hard and not being complacent and listening to Coach, I think he'll be just fine."

Tebow was also asked whether he was offended by Meyer's statement that Miller was the "most dynamic athlete" he's ever coached.

"The most dynamic? I would say the most dynamic player, and I think Braxton Miller is incredibly dynamic, but I would say the most dynamic player he's ever coached would be Percy Harvin. I mean, Braxton is crazy fast and has a lot of running ability, but I'd have to give the edge to my man Percy. There's not a one-on-one defender that can cover him, so I'd have to give it to Percy."

Asked about what kind of success Ohio State can attain under Meyer, Tebow said, "I think they'll do great. And I think they'll be playing a lot of big games and have chances to win a lot of big games and hopefully play for some championships.

"I feel like he's going to get great players. I think he's going to be able to steal a lot of players from SEC schools. I know in Ohio, you've got big-time recruits there. So he's going to get a lot of big-time recruits. And I think you'll only see that team get better every year."